A CONVERSATION WITH... THE HAILS
The Hails’ Robbie Kingsley discusses their debut album What’s Your Motive and the band’s unique history.
Photo Credit: Luke Rogers
Does everything happen for a reason?
Maybe it does, maybe it doesn’t.
But two things did happen for a reason -- The Hails forming after too many encounters to be deemed a coincidence, and you reading this article about them.
But don’t worry about this piece getting too philosophical, because we’re matching The Hails’ idea of following the fun.
This, as many things do, starts with the name of the band. As this five-piece formed in Florida during their college years, they partially crafted the name as a nod of acknowledgement to their alma mater and its chant “All hail Florida, Hail.”
“But it also just sounded cool,” vocalist Robbie Kingsley jokes. “I was infatuated with the idea of ‘the somethings’ like ‘The Beatles’. There wasn’t any intention behind the name, honestly. We liked how catchy it was.”
Catchy is an incredible word to describe this band and their genre-transcending music. It started with the first song they blew up with, ‘Younger’ which shoved them into the spotlight with its smooth lyrics and incandescent instrumentals reminiscent of Songs about Jane. After it got online attention through blogs, which propelled it into Spotify playlists and everyone’s saved songs, the band got invited to perform in a New York City showcase. From there, they’ve been steadily releasing music since 2018 with the songs that felt right to create for that moment in their lives.
Which leads them perfectly to their debut album, What’s Your Motive. It’s an invigorating 10-track scrapbook from different eras of the band’s seven-year existence all centred around one thing: moving forward.
‘Breathless’ was written first, around the same time as ‘Stay’ and ‘Younger’ were, and kept in the vault until the time was right. A lot of the songs in between ‘Breathless’ and ‘Time Never Sat So Still’ (the most recently written song) were vault keepers until the album’s central theme was discovered. Beautifully ironic that an album about not waiting around had songs that had, in fact, been waiting around.
But it pays off, as What’s Your Motive is an incredibly accurate and creatively experimental depiction of The Hails as artists and people. While Robbie, Dylan, and Franco are the primary songwriters, the band ensures that Zach and Andre have their voices and world perspectives taken into consideration. “We have different strengths that come alive during different times. Like I’m the spokesperson for the band, doing interviews and on stage. Zach’s really business-oriented, Andre’s easily the glue of the band and built most of our studio, Dylan’s a virtuoso with music and theory in general, and Franco can probably pick up something and know how to do it within a day. That all combines into who we are and what this album is.”
The album documents their individual and collective struggles with complacency and breaking cycles in relationships. From ‘Caligula’, where the enemy of the album is introduced, to ‘They Seem Wrong’, an open wound of a song exploring the misalignment felt when you don’t grow alongside people you once knew, to the ending with ‘Time Never Sat So Still’ and ‘In Moments.’ These last two songs are after the defeat of the album’s enemy, where the listener (and protagonist) has shed what no longer serves them and is finally in the eye of the storm. The listener’s left at the end, or the beginning, with the idea that even the most fleeting of things can remain precious -- we’re the sum of all of the parts of our lives and those who have been in them, even if they’ve left.
“I think people, including us, need to know, that a few things are okay. You can enjoy certain moments that might not have helped you in the long run, but you can take the time to figure it out and live a life where you don’t regret anything. You’re not complacent, you’re growing, you’re figuring it out even with all the challenges life throws at you.”
A perfect album and lesson for this time of year, hallmarked by moving into/out of university, into new cities, and maybe even into new relationships as cuffing season approaches. The Hails members themselves are moving around again, and as Robbie explains: “We’ve never really been in the same city, and now I’m in New York City and the guys are feeling L.A. more. We’re selling the studio we built and finding something new. It’s time.”
It seems like they really did practice what they preach.
Even with all the physical distance, the band is soon embarking on their longest tour yet across the U.S. to celebrate the album. “We’re not really a long tour band, but we’re so excited to go on this tour. It never stops being exhilarating or joy-creating because every time we get off the stage, we get to ride that feeling of how much the crowd loved it. How much we loved it. Every show feels like that, still.”
So The Hails came together by sheer chance, bonded by a friendship that is now forged through the fires of the music industry, and they’ve now released a debut album. Maybe it was a coincidence, maybe it was meant to be. But one thing’s for certain -- The Hails are using every moment and song they have to leave a positive mark on the world.